1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method for supporting data communication between personal computers without the use of a data modem and, more particularly, to a personal computer using an audio driver for supporting data communication with the use of a data modem.
2. Background Art
In general, data communication between two personal computers is typically performed by way of either an internal data transfer interface as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,638,195 for Digital Communication Interface issued to Brender et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,999,768 for Data Transfer Control Units Each for Which Comprises Processors And Dual-Part Memory and U.S. Pat. No. 5,057,998 for Data Transfer Control Unit both issued to Hirokawa, or by a modem such as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,610 for Method For Parallel Data Transmission Using A Serial Data Transmission Data issued to Takai. When a data transfer interface is installed in each computer, transmission cable having a data line and a control line is connected to a serial input/output interface unit of the respective data transfer interface to support data communication between the two computers. The data transfer interface is also equipped with a dedicated controller and a dual port memory for making preparation of data transfer from internal memory board of one personal computer to another personal computer. Modem can also be used to support data communication between such personal computers.
In addition to supporting a variety of data communications, personal computer also includes a variety of functions, such as a sound, an image display, a multi-media, wire/wireless communication and the like. To support good quality of sounds for the personal computer, a sound card (e.g., an audio driver) must be installed in the personal computer. This sound card is provided to support only audio function for the computer. For example, an audio (e.g., voice) signal from an microphone input jack is converted into a digital signal by means of the sound card to be stored in a memory unit of the personal computer. The digital signal is also converted into an analog signal by means of the sound card to be supplied to a phone output jack. It is noted, however, that the audio driver as practiced in the contemporary computer art is solely limited to support audio output in the personal computer.